Organic gardening can either be a nice, calming hobby, or a considerable annoyance. These tips should help you to become a better organic gardener.
Insects and various garden pests can be avoided by making your soil healthy. Healthy soil leads to healthy plants with more strength to deflect those insects and various diseases. To boost your garden’s prospects of giving you the healthiest possible plants, make sure you begin with premium soil devoid of salt-accumulating chemicals.
Use biennials and annuals to beautify your flower beds. The annuals and biennials are usually fast growing because they only last one season, and this will let you change the garden every season for a nice change of pace. They are very useful for filling in the gaps between perennials and shrubs in a sunny area. There are many different varieties to choose from such as daisies, marigolds, impatiens, and lantana.
Baking Soda
If you start to notice some powdery mildew growing on your plants, there is no need to waste money on expensive chemicals. Put a little baking soda and some dish soap in water. Once a week, spray this solution on your plants and your mildew should disappear in no time. Baking soda treats the mildew effectively and gently and it won’t damage your plants.
If you’re planning on horticulture, carefully watch for stink bugs! You should be particularly careful during Autumn. They love to inhabit peppers, beans, tomatoes and all kinds of fruit varieties. If you do not check, they do a lot of damage to plants so try to get rid of them if you can.
Try to grow some wheat or cat grass around your cat’s favorite plants. Additionally, use your cat’s keen sense of smell to your advantage. Citrus fruit peels and mothballs both smell horrible to cats, so put them on the soil near the plants your cat likes to eat.
Remember to place a layer of mulch over the soil around your vegetables, approximately 2 inches deep. When you place mulch around your plants, it keeps the ground more moist. It will also prevent weeds from sprouting. You’ll save a ton of time if you don’t have to constantly pull out weeds.
Your garden can really benefit from evergreens featuring berries. These help to give your garden nice looking color, even during winter when most vegetation is colorless. Other plants that boast of winter berries include: Holly, Snowberry and Winterberry.
Know the ideal times to harvest each of the vegetables you plant. Each variety of vegetable has a specific time to be harvested so that you may enjoy its fullest flavor. Zucchini and baby peas, for example, have the best flavor when harvested early. However, tomatoes should be as ripe as they can be when pulled from the vine to ensure the best taste. Educate yourself about the best time to harvest your veggies.
If you are growing a vegetable garden, you may find that pests can be difficult to control. Don’t spray any harsh chemicals on your vegetables because you will be eating them later on. The key to keeping garden pests at bay is to be relentless. In many cases, you can simply remove the pests from your plants by picking them off.
Make sure to wear sun protection gear if you’ll be working in the garden in the sun. Wear sunglasses and hats with wide brims, and apply sunscreen. When you protect yourself against the sun’s rays, you are more likely to avoid both skin cancer and sunburn.
Organic gardening is far more complex than it seems. Doing it successfully entails a good amount of patience and dedication, but achieving a productive organic garden is a worthwhile endeavor indeed. Using the tips that you just learned you can improve your skills in organic horticulture.
